It's Good to Be Home!

Have you ever looked forward to having some down time; time just to do whatever you want? Yeah, that's where I am only I have so much I WANT to do that I find myself running in circles! I don't remember a time that I didn't have to hurry up and get stuff done for a show, so now, I am having a hard time getting myself organized enough to get things accomplished. Be careful what you wish for, right?

I am doing "Live" shows on YouTube now on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturday afternoons from noon to 2:00 pm Pacific time. It has started kind of rough because I am not tech-savvy but with help from the kids in Virginia, I finally got on last Tuesday for my first show, albeit a bit late. Thursday was better and by Saturday, I felt pretty comfortable although I wasn't crazy about the camera view. I am going to continue to play around with things and will settle into something my audience can relate to and get to having some fun. Laura is doing her "Live" shows on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings from 10:00 am to noon eastern time.

Last week on my "Lives", I made the Fall version of Geese Around the Crazy Heart. I have made this table topper in pinks a couple of times and really wanted to see it in fabrics that were totally different. And, since Fall is my favorite time of the year, I pulled earth tone fabrics from my stash and went to work.

I also worked on this patriotic version. It will be a wallhanging but needs the embellishments on it. It will be perfect for celebrating our country's 250th birthday.

This week, we are going to be doing some fun, small hexi projects. These projects are done on the machine, mostly, so they are pretty fast. I will be sharing a Journal Cover made from a mini charm pack, a bowl set, some embellisments with hexies on a sweatshirt and maybe a couple of other things. I will talk about the different sizes we offer and all kinds of fun little things to do with them. If you have ever thought about making a hexi quilt but hate the idea of sitting and sewing it all by hand, check out our version. I do not call this English Paper Piecing (EPP) because my method is different but it comes out looking exactly the same. Sometimes, we find easier ways to make the same things our grandmothers made; that doesn't make it wrong, but maybe easier and more enjoyable to the same end. I hope you will be able to join me as we explore these projects.

Next week, I want to talk about how to control your stash and great projects to make from your stash. I will show you how I have organized my fabrics to make some of these projects a lot easier to dig in to. The projects I will show you for using up those scraps will be things like Log Cabins, Pineapples, String Blocks and more.

Some other ideas I have for future "Lives" are an "Art Quilt", New York Beauty quilts, LoneStar Quilts and so much more. If there is something you want to see, send me an email and let me know. I would love to add extra tips and tricks in all my shows to make projects easier for you. And, not all of my projects will be strictly for or on our foundations. So, check in and see what's going on.

And, now that I plan to be home for awhile, I am so excited to be able to work a bit in my garden! The first thing I did when we got home was plant some tomato plants. They are doing great already. My berry bushes have lots of berries, I have the tiniest little oranges started on the tree and I have a ton of seeds to get started in my little green house. I will keep you posted on my progress.

I hope everyone is finding time to do a little stitching, its so good for the soul. Hope to catch you on the show this week and until next time, HAPPY QUILTING!